1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to firearm supports for assisting a shooter in steadying the firearm during firing, and more particularly to a new and improved adjustable rest for rifles, shotguns, pistols and the like, the gun rest being especially well balanced in supporting a firearm, and configured preferably for mounting on the bed of a pickup truck.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
Gun rests in various configurations have found substantial and varied use in the prior art, such as for steadying a firearm for target practice, in sporting events which include shooting as an element of the events, for hunting game or for exterminating pests, or other applications in which steadying the firearm is essential in order to obtain the greatest possible accuracy of results. The greatest accuracy is achieved in the absence of any body movements on the part of the shooter affecting movement of the firearm.
Various configurations for gun rests have be proposed in the prior art for eliminating inadvertent movement of the firearm by the shooter as a factor in the accuracy of the firing. Representative prior art gun rest structures and substantial background information related thereto may be found by reference to U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,757 to Helmstadter, which describes a pistol and rifle rest including a movable crosspiece member with a cradle member at each end thereof for supporting the barrel at one end and the butt stock of the firearm at the other, the crosspiece member supported on a vertical pointed rod with a foot accommodating member for pressing into the gound; to U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,779 to Shaw, which describes a rifle rest including a pair of particulate filled superimposed bags interconnected by a connecting hinge means therebetween; to U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,268 to Ransom, which describes a rifle rest including a rifle supporting cradle member supported by a tripod base having a finely adjustable screw type on each leg thereof and means for selectively positioning and locking the cradle member in a horizontal plane; to U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,694 to Lombardo, which describes a two strap harness arrangement for holding the buttstock of a firearm, supported on a vertical shaft and base, and a dampening pad on the rear of the gun rest providing protection from recoil of the firearm; to U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,965 to Narvaez, which describes a horizontal support structure for a long gun supported on the forward end of a horizontal arm rest portion of a chair; to U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,814 to Lombardo, which describes a gun rest having an attaching bracket shaped for securing and supporting the buttstock of a firearm, the bracket being pivotally connected to a vertical slide, and a recoil pad on the rear of the gun rest; to U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,554 to Helmstadter, which includes an adjustable two point cradle member for carrying the entire weight of the firearm; and to the references cited in the foregoing cited patents.
The prior art gun rests suffer from certain shortcomings that render their use undesirable in certain critical shooting situations. For example, the prior art gun rests may provide two point support for a substantial length of the firearm with one support point on the buttstock and the other near the end of the barrel, which may provide stable support for the firearm without assistance of the shooter, but such an arrangement requires the shooter to grasp the firearm at two places between the support points of the gun rest for firing (i.e., at the barrel stock or forearm with one hand and at the trigger with the other hand), interferes with good balance of the firearm during firing and may require the shooter to assume an awkward position during firing of the firearm and limit the shooter's ability to conveniently elevate the firearm or to move the firearm in a horizontal plane in order to visually acquire and fire at a target. The two point support in certain prior art gun rests include means to hold the firearm firmly in place, which may also be undesirable in many shooting situations.
The invention, described in certain representative embodiments in the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, overcomes the foregoing shortcomings and other inadequacies in prior art gun rest structures, by providing a new and useful gun rest for supporting a firearm during firing, which includes an arcuately shaped rocker member having substantially U-shaped support brackets at each end thereof for supporting the firearm at a first point near the end of the barrel and at a second point intermediate the barrel and buttstock forward of the receiver or trigger of the firearm, which arrangement requires the shooter to grasp the firearm at only one point between the support brackets (namely, the forearm), and thereby provides optimum balance of the firearm as held by the shooter during visual acquisition of the target and firing of the firearm.